Rays hold off Rangers 7-6, stay clear atop AL East
Tampa Bay salvaged a split in Texas, beating the Rangers 7-6 to stay 4.0 games up in the AL East, but the night ended with closer Bryan Baker leaving the game ill.
Aranda and Palacios power past Texas
Tampa Bay split two games in Texas, losing 6-0 on September 3 before beating the Rangers 7-6 on September 4 to move to 84-57. The split left the Rays 2-3 in their last 5 games.
Rangers0-6Rangers7-6Jonathan Aranda went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and 2 RBI in the win, Richie Palacios added a solo homer and went 1-for-3, and Yandy Díaz was 3-for-5 with a double. Nick Martinez started and worked 6.1 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 5 hits with 4 strikeouts. Rangers beat writer Evan_P_Grant tracked the Rays building the lead in real time, posting that Tampa Bay was up 3-1 and then, after three straight doubles, up 4-1 — a lead Texas spent the rest of the night trying to erase. Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart, writing about Houston's own game, noted that Texas was still "losing in the 9th to the Rays" as the finish played out.
The night before, Cal Quantrill shut out Tampa Bay over 7 innings in the 6-0 loss, the first pitcher to blank the Rays since Ryan Weathers on May 24, according to TalkinBaseball_. Even with the split, Tampa Bay stayed well clear in the AL East — 4.0 games up on the Yankees (elimination number 18), 7.5 up on the Red Sox (14), 13.5 up on the Blue Jays (8) and 15.5 up on the Orioles (6).
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The bigger story out of Friday's win was Bryan Baker, MLB's saves leader, who left the game against the Rangers with what looked like an injury, according to TalkinBaseball_. Manager Kevin Cash said afterward that Baker was removed due to illness, not injury, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported, and the closer is considered day-to-day.
Rays closer and MLB saves leader Bryan Baker exited tonight's game with an apparent injury
Tampa Bay also placed left-hander Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured list Friday with left forearm tightness. Between Baker's illness and McClanahan's IL stint, the Rays are managing two fresh questions in the pitching staff as they try to hold their division lead down the stretch.
Upcoming
Drew Rasmussen (14-5, 2.95 ERA) gets the ball for Tampa Bay as the Rays are in Texas tonight. Rasmussen was a no-decision in his last start on August 30 against San Diego, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits over 6 innings with 6 strikeouts. He faces Jacob deGrom (10-9, 4.00 ERA), who was dominant his last time out, throwing 7 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts and just 1 hit allowed in a win over the Athletics on August 31.
The market isn't picking a favorite in the finale, and the total points to a low-scoring game — a reasonable read given deGrom's last outing and a Rangers lineup that shut Tampa Bay out just two nights earlier. If Rasmussen matches his recent form, the Rays' bats will need another night like Friday's to hold serve on the road.